Reed's Island Neighborhood Watch

SAFETY AND CRIME PREVENTION:

Police nonemergency number: 935-3311

With the encouragement of the Police Department, we maintain an informal watch on our street.

The main ingredient in an effective Neighborhood Watch is when residents can be noticed out strolling—and noticing. Our mere visibility works wonders against crime.

Take a walk! The neighbors will be glad to see you, so make a pleasant habit of it and include strolls in your schedule.
Take your phone with you when you go for a walk.
Notice things. Anything sketchy, call the Police Department's nonemergency number 935-3311. Program that number into your phone. If you're bashful and don't want to use your name, simply say you're a volunteer with the Reed's Island Neighborhood Watch, that you have seen something to report.
9-1-1 is the emergency number to call, as always.

General tips for crime prevention on your property:

Tell a neighbor if you're going away, even for one night.
In your absence, arrange for package deliveries to be placed so they cannot be seen from the street.
Don't let mail or newspapers pile up and advertise your absence.
Security cameras are getting cheaper, smaller, and easier to install. So are timers to operate your lights on and off while you are gone.
Call suspicious actions to the attention of the police. Call as soon as you notice something is not right—don't wait until the next day. Call on the phone (don't e-mail or wait for someone else to do it.)

FIRE ANTS:

Contact Larry Heintz if you would like to participate in the program.

We follow recommendations of the State Department of Agriculture's Hawaii Ant Lab to abate little fire ants—the tiny invasive species that is so painful to humans and animals.

We pool resources to purchase "tango" treatment every six weeks or so. It's not a poison, rather a hormone agent that we squirt onto plants and trees. When ants consume it, they are prevented from reproducing.

It's very effective—more so when lots of adjoining properties participate.